Three questions with Jeremy Mayfield

Jerry Bonkowski

Wednesday

Oct 31, 2007 at 12:01 AMOct 31, 2007 at 7:43 PM

After a horrendous first 32 races with Bill Davis Racing – he managed to qualify for just 13 of those events – Jeremy Mayfield was released from his contract and then signed to replace Jeff Green in the No. 66 Chevrolet last week.

After a horrendous first 32 races with Bill Davis Racing – he managed to qualify for just 13 of those events – Jeremy Mayfield was released from his contract and then signed to replace Jeff Green in the No. 66 Chevrolet last week.
In his first race with his new team at Atlanta, Mayfield struggled through mechanical issues, running only about two-thirds of the race before finishing 40th.
Ironically enough, Mayfield and Green grew up together in Owensboro, Ky., and are longtime friends. He spent a few minutes with Yahoo/GHNS talking about his new ride:
Q. Was it awkward to replace someone you know so well such as Green?
A. "That's the hard part. Jeff Green did a great job here. For whatever reasons, the results just weren't there. I know it wasn't Jeff's fault and it wasn't the team's fault. It's kind of like the situation I was in: Sometimes you just don't click or you don't run good, for whatever reason that is. I know Jeff's a great race car driver and he's done a lot of great things and will still be a great race car driver. It's a tough deal. I wouldn't wish that on anybody, but I do know it's the nature of the sport, you have to live with it and just move on. Jeff will learn from it but he'll land on his feet."
Q. What went wrong at Bill Davis Racing?
A. "We had such high hopes going into that. A lot of good things were going to happen and take place that didn't. That's one of the most frustrating things. It wasn't between Bill (team owner Bill Davis) and I; we didn't have any problems. I wasn't doing a very good job at the 36 and (he and the team) just weren't clicking, so we decided to make a change for next year. I wanted to go do something new and get a jump start on next year, and that's what we've done (with his new team). To me, it was a no-brainer: jump in, let's go racing and go do the best we can – and hopefully it'll all pay off for us."
Q. What can you accomplish with just a few races left this season?
A. "The main thing is just trying to get a few races under our belt this year, try to figure out what I like and for me to get used to the team. So far, it's been pretty good. If I could just get one or two good runs before the season is over, I think that'll boost the whole confidence level of this whole race team."
Jerry Bonkowski is National NASCAR Columnist for Yahoo! Sports and a featured contributor for Gatehouse News Service. He can be reached at NASCARColumnist@Yahoo.com.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.